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Sunday, August 28, 2016

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne (Harry Potter #8)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: More time with the Harry Potter gang

Cons: Plot feels a little out there, issues of reading a
script

The Bottom Line:

Read scripted magic

Revisit Harry Potter

Fun visit for fans

A Different Trip to the Harry Potter World

When I first heard that there was going to be a play sequel
to the Harry Potter series, I was intrigued and hoped at some point I’d get to
see it. When they announced they were
going to release the rehearsal script, I was happy, but didn’t plan to buy it right
away. I should know me better than
that. Yep, I caved and bought Harry Potter and the Cursed Child the
week it came out.

If you aren’t yet familiar with the world of Harry Potter
thanks to the wildly successful novels and equally wildly successful movies,
then this book isn’t for you. It assumes
you know the backstory to what happens here, and if you don’t, you will be
positively lost. There are references to
events and cameos by characters from the past books. However, if you are already a fan, you’ll
love diving into the latest story.

What is most notable about this book is that it is a bound
copy of the rehearsal script for the play.
That means it reads very differently than a novel. Essentially, it gives us dialogue and minimal
stage direction and even less description.
It’s a different type of read, and you need to be in the proper mindset
going into the book as a result.

The play actually opens with a scene we are already familiar
with - the epilogue of the final novel.
In it, we see an adult Harry Potter sending his middle child off to his
first year at Hogwarts. From there, we
see Albus Severus Potter landing in the unlikeliest house in the school and
making a surprising best friend. We
breeze through a few scenes before really landing on the heart of the story,
which involves time travel, alternative realities, and a chance to save an
innocent from dying. But when things go
wrong, can Albus Potter undo what he has done?
Can Harry Potter work with his son to save the day?

I’ve seen some fans complain about this book being glorified
fan fiction, and I can see their complaints.
The plot seems a little wacky overall, not the carefully thought out
books in the series. Yet, every time I
started to feel that way, the characters pulled me back into the story and I
forgot my complaints. If you know and
love these characters, it’s hard to not cheer for them. I still feel like the basic premise of the
story doesn’t sit completely right, but I don’t mind so much.

And that’s because I love the core cast of characters, and
it was great to see them again. I’m not
sure I bought Ron’s personality in the story, but that’s my only real quibble
with the characters. There was a
surprise ally along the way, and I loved seeing that relationship develop. There were some truly touching moments as
well. Many of them were predictable, but
that didn’t make them any less touching.

Those used to the immersive world of the Harry Potter novels
will definitely miss that here. Once
again, we are reading a play, which is mostly dialogue. The details of Harry’s world aren’t here
because we would see that on stage.

And maybe that’s part of the reason I always had a hard time
getting truly into the world like I would the books. I kept picturing actors on a stage as events
unfolded. And the short scenes always
made me think of how the scenes would change for an audience. I tried to picture how they’d do the magic on
stage as well. That was distracting,
although it is a personal issue.

The book is only 300 pages, so shorter than most of the
novels. Couple that with lots of white
space because this is a script, and you have a very fast read. Again, I think this helps explain some of the
complaints from fans.

While I don’t think this will ever be anyone’s favorite book
in the series, I’m certainly glad I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. If I
ever get a chance to see it, I’ll jump.
If you are a fan, go into it expecting a play script instead of a novel,
and you’ll be just fine.

I've mostly heard horrible reviews of this, so it was nice to read yours which is more balanced. I know I will want to read this at some point, just to continue to live in that world for a bit. Thanks for the heads up on the pros and cons of the play!

I may be the only person on the planet who hasn't read these books. I read the first one, but never got around to the rest. The funny thing is, I do love reading plays, so I might really enjoy this. Thanks for the review.

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I'm an accountant by trade but a reviewer at heart. Top reviewer at Amazon. Love to read, watch TV and movies, and listen to music. And I'm always looking to share and discuss what I am currently consuming.

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